Lost With You
by lilgulie5
Summary: When the Glee Club goes on a camping trip Quinn and Puck end up getting lost together in the woods. Set during season two so they aren't together. Slight spoilers for the second half. One-shot.


**A/N: Hello everyone! The idea for this story came from the wonderful people in the Bakery thread of the Glee Forum. One day a group of us were just talking about how the Glee club should go on a camping trip. I started taking notes, compiling ideas and this is what I came up with. Of course, it is dedicated to all of the lovely people in the Bakery and Quick shippers everywhere! I hope everyone enjoys! Please read & review. Xoxo-Katie**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. **

"Why did we talk each other into going on this ridiculous trip?" Quinn asked as she lifted her sunglasses and peered out the window of the large van.

"Because we said that it would be a new experience and that the outdoors can be fun," Mercedes reminded her.

"I would never say that. My idea of camping is staying in a hotel without room service."

At some point midway through the spring semester, someone had come up with the brilliant idea for the entire club to go on a one day camping trip, once the weather was decent enough, as part of a team building exercise. At first, Quinn and Mercedes had flat out refused to go. Neither girl was enthusiastic about the idea.

"Come on Quinn," Mr. Schue had tried to convince her weeks ago. "Weren't you ever a Girl Scout when you were younger?"

"I was a Girl Scout for two reasons: to sell cookies and to enhance my image."

"You you cried that one time we went camping," Santana revealed.

"Why?" Puck asked. "Because there wasn't an outlet for you to plug in your curling iron and hair dryer?"

"There were bugs in my sleeping bag!"

"Oh no! Not _bugs_," Sam joined in unexpectedly to ridicule her.

Ever since she had quit the Cheerios after they won their Regionals competition, she and Sam had parted ways as well. The break up was largely mutual. Sam called her leaving the squad selfish because she never thought of the impact it would have on their relationship and she called him insensitive for not being able to see that the Cheerios didn't make her happy the way she thought it would. After they broke up, Quinn decided that it was time to be on her own, at least for awhile, to figure out who she really wanted to be instead of who everyone else wanted her to be.

Her post-dating relationship with Sam was much different than what she had with Finn. While she and the tall awkward quarterback had become friends again and they could talk and text and joke around, Sam was different. She wouldn't go so far to say that he held a grudge against her, but she definitely felt that he thought less of her for relinquishing her head Cheerio position. Of all of the people in the world, he had decided to team up with Santana whenever she felt the need to taunt Quinn. They weren't even dating or anything. Surprisingly, Sam hadn't started seeing any of the girls who constantly fawned over him.

"Shut it, Lady Lips. Quinn hates bugs, you got a problem with that?" Puck had said defensively, his tone and purpose summing up their relationship perfectly. It didn't matter that they weren't together or that she barely gave him the time of day, Puck stood up for her, no matter what. He silently stood by Finn when he and Sam had argued months ago about her choosing glee over cheerleading, unable to really get involved because he was still on probation. Quinn also had an odd suspicion that it was Puck who picked the lock on Sam's locker (he _had_ been the one who taught her how) slipped already molding cheese in it one Friday and left it to rot there over the weekend, causing the locker to smell for a month. Was it wrong that she thought it was kind of sweet in Puck's own way? She didn't think so. Quinn and Finn talked, Quinn and Sam occasionally exchanged barbs, but Quinn and Puck rarely spoke to or about one another since…well, since last year.

Quinn more or less agreed to the camping trip to prove to everyone that she _could_ do it and had decided to convince Mercedes to come along, as well as Kurt. Everyone in the club missed Kurt and there was no reason he shouldn't be included in their fun weekend. Both girls had promised each other that, no matter what happened, they would grin and bear the trip, which was how they wound up stuck in the fifteen passenger can on the way to Camp Wannapokemyeyesout (or something close to that, Quinn couldn't remember the real name) a forest preserve and campground about two hours away from Lima.

Rachel had meticulously planned out every moment of the trip. There were six girls and six guys, plus Mr. Schue, so they had brought four tents for the club and one for their director. Quinn, Mercedes and Rachel were staying in one tent (unless Quinn killed Rachel first). Santana, Brittany and Tina were in the other girl's tent. Finn, Puck and Artie were in the first guy's tent and Kurt, Sam and Mike were in the last tent. Once all of the tents were set up, they would explore the scenic bike trail, making it easier for Artie to maneuver around and then break off into pairs for the "Forest of Fun Scavenger Hunt". Their day would end with s'mores and songs around the campfire, and then it was lights out so they could be well rested for the 7AM nature hike and bird watching.

"Alright guys, we're here!" Mr. Schue exclaimed as he parked the van next to the camp site. "Rachel, what's first on the agenda?"

"If you would all pull out your color coded schedules, we can review our afternoon," she replied as she turned around from her spot in the passenger seat.

"That was a schedule? I used it to spit my gum out in," Puck joked and even Quinn grinned. She couldn't help it; she was a sucker for messing with Rachel.

"Lucky for you Noah, I printed off extra copies. I should have laminated them as well. First, we need to set up our tents. This is very important and _everyone_ needs to help out so that I can be completed in a timely fashion. I've allotted us one hour to pitch the tents. The food will stay in the van so that we don't encourage various woodland creatures to visit the site while we're off on our adventures."

"OK, you heard Rachel, let's pile out! Everyone grab your own bag. Can I get a few of the guys to take the tents and tarps?"

Each group was responsible for putting up their own tent. It came as no surprise that veteran camper Finn, along with Puck and Artie, were the first ones done. Rachel, Quinn and Mercedes finished next because of the meticulous directions the petite brunette had printed and Quinn and Mercedes' desire to finish as quickly as possible. The remaining two groups finished at about the same time because Kurt refused to do more than hand out the stakes and Brittany had somehow managed to get trapped inside the tent before it was even set up.

"If everyone is ready, we can head off into the woods for our scenic tour. Does anyone need to change?" Rachel asked and everyone looked at Quinn.

"What?" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't you think you might want to put on something more comfortable?" Mr. Schue suggested.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Quinn had carefully chosen her outfits for the weekend and she could only really describe them as _camping chic_. She was wearing a pink and blue plaid shirt with a grey cardigan, navy blue slacks that were cropped at the ankle and her pristine white Keds. Everything about her outfit looked like it was ripped out of the spring 2011 _J. Crew_ catalogue and said _Yes, I love the outdoors and even though I am camping I'm better than you._ The rest of the members of the club, including Kurt, were dressed in jeans, t-shirts or flannel shirts and hoodies, sporting hiking boots or tennis shoes.

"Ummm, nothing!" Schue replied, knowing that any argument would be pointless. "Let's head out!"

The paved trail that led through the woods was quite easy to traverse and the scenery was lush and fragrant. The spring had brought a good deal of rain so far and the trees and other foliage were already in full bloom. Puck had volunteered to push Artie because some of the path was steep and no one wanted him whizzing down a hill like a runaway rollercoaster car at Cedar Point. Ever since he got out of juvie, Puck had formed a legitimate friendship with Artie. They both tried to help one another out with their girl troubles, but Artie ended up being a lot more successful with Brittany than Puck was with Quinn. Maybe he had been stupid to think that she would come running to him once she and Sam broke up. It was difficult because as much as he wanted her, he knew better than to push her; she didn't work that way. She knew how he felt about her, at least he _thought_ she did, but maybe she didn't take him seriously when he told her that he loved her. In all honesty, he couldn't blame her for not believing him. He had hurt her, but hadn't she done her fair share of hurting, too? Whatever the case was, he and Artie decided that the best plan of action was just to lie low, keep trying to do things that would prove to her that he could be a nice guy and wait for her to come around. _Yeah_, Puck thought. _Too bad waiting sucks ass._

Even though he knew her outfit was totally impractical, Puck couldn't help but think that Quinn looked really cute. He was glad that she had quit the Cheerios because he got to see her in normal clothes again. Sure, he thought those pleated skirts were hot, but he liked the dresses she wore to school even more and loved it when she wore her hair down.

"So how's this scavenger hunt supposed to work?" Puck heard Finn ask Rachel. "I mean, do we get to pick our partners, because I'd totally pick you."

"While that's incredibly sweet of you, we're going to be drawing names from a hate. We'll leave it up to fate."

Once they had all made it back to the campsite, Rachel threw everyone's name into a baseball hat and they began to make their selections. Mike drew Santana, Brittany pulled Mercedes, Finn ended up with Artie, Rachel grabbed Tina's name and Kurt drew Sam, leaving Quinn and Puck partnered up.

"Why couldn't we just choose out own partners?" Quinn asked, not entirely excited about spending the afternoon with Puck.

"Because the fates have spoken," Kurt replied. He was very satisfied with _his_ pick.

"You're hurting my feelings, Quinn," Puck joked and nudged her shoulder.

"Whatever. Can we get this over with?"

The rules of the scavenger hunt were easy. Each group had a list of items that they had to search for in the woods along with a map of the forest preserve. Whichever group was the first to collect all of the items on the list and return to the campsite to have Mr. Schue check their results would be the winner. There was one more catch, all groups had to leave their cell phones behind because many of them had GPS capabilities and that was against the rules.

"Hold up," Santana protested. "What if we get lost in the woods?"

"As long as we stick to the main trails that shouldn't happen. It's three o'clock now. Even if your group is not finished, return to the campsite by six o'clock sharp."

Each group set out in a different direction, the thrill of the competition filling everyone with excitement, except for Quinn.

"Looks like the fates have put us together," Puck said, trying to make conversation as they walked down the trail in search of a purple wildflower.

"Oh yeah, picking names out of a hate sure sounds like fate," Quinn replied sarcastically as she scanned the brush.

"Jeez, I was just kidding, lighten up."

"Sorry, just help me look for this flower. If we're stuck together, we might as well try to win this thing."

The pair actually had an easy time finding most of the items on their list and even managed to break through their awkward silence by making small talk that ended up progressing into the first real conversation they had had with one another in months.

"How's your sister?" Quinn asked.

"She's good. She's got this boy who always hangs around her, but I don't like him."

"Why not? Is it Bobby?"

"How do you know that?"

"Awww," Quinn smiled. "She had a crush on him last year."

"Kid's a punk."

"Look who's talking."

"I'm not a punk, I'm a badass. There's a difference."

"And what makes him a punk?"

"Well…he just…let's see…" Puck said, grasping for an excuse. "I'll get back to you on that one."

"Uh huh. What's the last thing on our list."

"A red river rock."

"That should be pretty easy, the river is this way," Quinn pointed out.

"Uhh, no it's this way," Puck replied, looking in the opposite direction.

"No, it isn't. See, look at the map."

"You're holding that upside down."

"No, I'm not," Quinn insisted.

"Yes, you are. The river is _this_ way."

"Can't you just admit that you're wrong, Puck? I'm telling you, it's this way."

"Oh, _I_ have no problem admitting when I'm wrong," he said. "Except for when I'm _right_."

"You can go that way if you want, but I'm going over here, _towards_ the river."

"Fine. I don't care. Have fun getting lost."

"No, you have fun. When I get back to the campsite I'll send the guys out looking for you."

Puck watched as Quinn stomped away from him like a five-year-old. _Why does she always have to be so damn stubborn?_ he thought. _Whatever, I don't care. I'm not following her. No way. _ Unfortunately, Puck had started to develop a conscious and even though he was pretty sure she was wrong, he would never forgive himself if something bad happened to Quinn because he let her wander off alone. When she was about fifty yards away, he shook his head and sighed heavily before jogging to catch up to her.

"Well, well, look who it is," Quinn said, glancing at him sideways. "Finally decide that I'm right?"

"Just lead the way," he replied.

XXX

_I'm pretty sure we passed that tree three minutes ago,_ Quinn thought to herself. _No, that's silly, all of these trees just look the same because they're all brown and green_. With every step they took, she became less and less sure of herself. It had been over ten minutes and they should have made it to the river already.

"Can I look at the map?" she asked nonchalantly, trying not to let the slight worry show in her voice.

"Why? I thought you knew where we were going," Puck replied in a mocking tone.

"I do, I just want to check how much longer."

"Well since this is the third time we've passed that tree, I'd say we would have been there already if you would have listened to me."

"Just give me the map."

"No."

"Give me the damn map."

"It's my turn to decide which way to go."

"Give it to me you…you assdick!" Quinn shouted and push Puck's chest.

"Did you just called me an _assdick_?" he asked as she looked up at him apologetically.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Can I please look at the map?"

"Well, you asked nicely now so…_no_."

"Ugh! You are impossible. You _always_ do shit like this!"

"Shit like what?" Puck asked.

"You take something good or fun and just ruin it for everyone."

"Excuse me princess, I'm not the one who got us lost."

"We're _not_ lost," Quinn objected.

"Oh yeah? Then where are we?" he questioned, finally tossing the folded map back at her.

She opened up the map and stared at it, glancing up a few times to check their surroundings and then back down at the map again. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't locate a single landmark that would point to where they were.

"I-I'm not sure," she mumbled very softly.

"What was that?"

"I said I don't know! There, are you happy?"

"No," he replied much to her surprise. "Here, let's just figure out where the hell we are."

Holding out the map so that they could both see it, Quinn and Puck studied it closely for a few moments when a large droplet of water fell onto the paper.

"What the heck?" she said and looked up to see dark grey clouds rolling overhead. As if on cue, thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Fuck," Puck cursed as rain began to fall around them. It started off as a light drizzle, but quickly turned into a steadier shower and the thunder sounded again.

"_Great_ we're lost _and_ it's raining," Quinn whined, her clothes already becoming damp. "What are we going to do?"

"Here, put this on," Puck replied, shrugging off his hoodie and tossing it haphazardly around her shoulders before he grabbed her hand. "I think I saw a place to stay dry back there."

Quinn had a difficult time keeping up with Puck as he darted through the woods. It didn't help matters that the hood from his sweatshirt kept falling into her eyes, making it nearly impossible for her to see where he was pulling her.

Puck hated the spring sometimes because of its unpredictable weather. He could tell from the sound of the thunder that the worst of it was still a little ways off but would be there soon. The rain was freezing cold as it pelted his body and he was glad when they finally reached the small cave he had seen earlier. When he tried to pull Quinn inside with him she resisted.

"I'm not going in there," she said.

"What? Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not, there could be snakes and bugs and-."

"Get the fuck in here," he ordered, yanking her into the dark but dry cave so hard that she tripped and fell onto him with an _oomph. _"'Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," she replied, sitting up quickly and brushing herself off. "How long do you think the rain will last?"

"No clue, maybe long enough for us to figure out where the hell we are. Do you still have the map?"

Quinn nodded and reached into one of the pocket of the hoodie to pull a soaking wet map, or what was left of it. The paper was so water logged that the ink was a smeared and unreadable mess.

"What are we going to do?"

"I think we need to wait out the storm first and then decide what to do. What time is it?"

"Four-thirty," Quinn replied, checking her wrist watch.

"Alright, we're not even supposed to be back for an hour and a half. That'll give us plenty of time."

"Except for the fact that we don't know where we are!"

"Once it's clear outside, we'll figure it out, relax," Puck assured Quinn and a shiver ran through his body.

"Are you cold? Here, take your hoodie back."

"No, I'm fine, just keep it otherwise you'll get sick. Maybe I can make a fire."

"With what?"

"We've got some stuff in my backpack that we could use. There's some dry wood in there that Berry had each group get for the fire tonight. I've got some paper and there looks like there's some dried leaves over here."

"What do you plan on lighting that with?" Quinn asked logically.

"My lighter_, duh_," Puck replied, pulling it from his pocket.

"You would have a lighter."

"Babe, I'm a pyro. I got kicked out of Cub Scouts for lighting some kid's model canoe on fire after he beat me in the race. None of this should surprise you."

"Oh, it doesn't."

In a short amount of time and with a bit of coaxing, Puck was able to get a small fire started. Although it wasn't large, it created a decent amount of heat and lit up the cave. As Quinn watched Puck work, she noticed the way his black t-shirt clung to his tones chest and abs and forced herself to look away. He sat down next to her and ran his hand over his mohawk, which was almost dry.

"I'm sorry," Quinn said, breaking the awkward silence.

"For what?"

"For getting us lost. This is all my fault," she admitted as a peal of thunder echoed and reverberated through the little cave.

"No, it's not. If I hadn't argued with you to start with we wouldn't be here, or if I had said something the second time we passed that tree."

'You knew we were lost?"

"Well, not technically, but I didn't stop you from going the wrong way, so I guess it's my fault, too."

"Thanks for the hoodie," Quinn offered. Despite the rain, the sweatshirt had kept her relatively dry, as opposed to Puck who could have wrung the water out of his t-shirt.

"Like I said, we wouldn't want you getting sick or something."

"Would you be sad if I got sick?"

"Well, I remember how whiney and needy you are when you get sick, so I would feel bad."

"Why do you care," she asked boldly. Honestly, she hadn't hated the idea of being partnered up with Puck that afternoon, but it did scare her a bit. She knew all too well that there was something between the two of them, there probably always would be, that was completely inescapable. No matter how many times she tried to run and push him away, it somehow always managed to come back to the two of them.

"Because we're _friends_," he replied, placing emphasis on the word he hated using to refer to her. "Aren't we."

"Of course we are, but…is that the only reason?"

"You know why," he said simply and stared into the burning embers of the fire.

"Maybe, but I don't understand why."

"What's there to understand?" Puck asked and tossed a chip of wood he had been fiddling with into the flames.

"Why me? Why, after all of this?"

"Why not?"

"Because I've been pretty awful to you," Quinn confessed. "I've ignored you, made fun of you and acted like you're not going through the same thing I am because it's easier for me to pretend to hate you, to forget about everything."

"Easier than what?"

"Remember her, remembering us."

"Was there ever an _us_?" he mused both to her and to himself. Their relationship had been a strange one and it hadn't been easy to put a label on what they were to one another. Were you dating someone if they flirted with other girls at school but opened their home and gave up half of their bed for you? Were you dating someone if she barely spoke to you at school but poured her heart out to you at night until you held her close and kissed her hair? There really was no simple answer. "Could there ever be?"

"I don't know."

"Which part don't you know about?"

"The first part," Quinn smiled faintly and glanced up at him. Puck bent his neck slightly and pressed his lips against her in a deep and slow kiss.

"I love you, Quinn," he breathed as they parted.

"Still?" she asked and rested her forehead against his.

"No," he shook his head. "Always."

"I love you, too," she replied honestly. "And I have a confession to make. I think I loved you then, too."

"You think?"

"No, I know I did."

Wrapping his arms around her shoulder Puck drew Quinn closer to him and she rested her head against his chest. They sat together in the quiet of the cave as they waited for the rain to stop, Puck absentmindedly twirling a strand of Quinn's damp curls around one of his fingers as she hummed a soft tune. Before long the rain died down and the sun's rays began to gradually peak out from behind the dismal grey sky.

"We should get back," Puck said, placing a kiss on Quinn's temple.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, unless you want Rachel to have a search party of forest preserve police out here looking for us."

He stood up, pulled Quinn to her feet and began to stomp out what was left of the fire until it was completely extinguished.

"We still have the problem of being lost," Quinn reminded him.

"Well this trail interconnects with the bigger trail that runs in one big circle around the whole preserve."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I saw it on the map earlier," Puck admitted and looked down at his feet.

"Are you telling me that you knew where we were going the _entire_ time?"

"Yes."

"And you let me think we were lost and it was all my fault when we could have just walked back to the campsite before it started raining?"

"Yes and yes."

"Why would you do that?" Quinn asked, slightly exasperated with him.

"Because you get really cute when you're all flustered and upset, kinda like you are right now, and I wanted to spend more time with you. It's not like I _planned_ the storm, though. I'm good but I'm not _that_ good."

"I don't believe you sometimes."

"Are you mad?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her close again.

"No, it was sweet in your own way."

"I guess this means we didn't win the scavenger hunt."

"I think I'm OK with that," Quinn replied and laced her fingers through his as they stepped back out into the forest and he led them back out to the campsite. As they expected, they were the last group to return and received a fair share of reproach from their friends.

"What the hell took you guys so long?" Finn asked.

"We got a lost for a little while and then the storm came," Puck began to explain.

"But then we found our way back together," Quinn finished, sharing a secret smile with him.

"Well it's a good thing you guys made it back, but unfortunately most of the tents took in some water, despite the tarps," Mr. Schue said. "It looks like we're going to have to pack up and head home. We were just waiting for the two of you to get back so we could leave."

Although they didn't say anything, Quinn and Puck knew that the rest of the club knew that something was up between them but they didn't feel like they owed them any explanation. They didn't have to answer to anyone but themselves. With Rachel sitting up front with Mr. Schue, Puck and Quinn claimed the last bench seat. As everyone else chatted in the dark van about the bust of a camping trip Puck leaned against the cool window while Quinn rested comfortably into his side and stretched her legs over the rest of the seat. _Maybe_, she thought with a smile. _Camping isn't so bad after all._


End file.
